Rule rendition by Ken Tidwell.
Last revised 10/26/98
2-4 players (individuals or teams of 2)
~45 minutes
Five-Up, also known as Muggins or All Fives, is played with the standard, European six spot tile set. You'll also need a paper & pencil or a cribagge board to keep score.
Each player draws one bone to decide who goes first. The player that draws the heaviest bone (the one with the highest total of spots and, in the case of a tie, the highest number on one end) leads off.
Return all dominoes to the boneyard and shuffle. Starting with the lead player and proceeding clockwise, each player draws five bones.
The first player may lead any of their bones and plays it face up in the center of the table.
The second player must play a bone which matches either end of the bone lead by the first player. Subsequently, bones are added to either end of the resulting chain.
For example, of the first player lead the 2-4, the second player might follow with the 2-6. The resulting chain would look something like 6-2-2-4. The third player may play any bone with a 6 or 4.
The first double is a special case. This is laid crosswise on the chain. Also, up to four bones may be laid against this double, known as the spinner, two bones continuing the chain and two more sprouting off the double to form a cross pattern. Further dominoes may be added to the two new sprouts giving players a choice of four playing positions.
If at any point a player cannot add a bone to the end of one of the chains then they must draw bones from the boneyard until they draw a bone which can be played. All bones drawn which cannot be played immediately are added to their hand. It is also legal to pass on playing the bones that you have and draw from the bone yard until you draw another bone that can be played.
The goal of the game is to score points by forming chains whose ends total up to some multiple of 5 (ie 5, 10, 15, 20, etc). The player who forms such a pattern immediately scores that total. Each five points scored is normally recorded as a single stroke on the pad or advance on the cribbage board. If a scoring pattern is formed but no one notices before the next player begins their turn then no points are scored for the pattern. Watch for scores!
The first player to play all of their bones scores points for the bones remaining in the other players' hands. These points are scored just like the multiples of five above. If the total ends in 1 or 2, then round down to the nearest multiple of five. If the total ends in 3 or 4, then round up.
If play is blocked such that no player may lay a bone, then all players should total their remaining bones. The player (or team) with the lowest total scores the total of all other players' (or team's) bones. Round off to the nearest multiple of five as above.
Scores may be kept individually or as teams. If you are keeping team scores then your partners remaining bones are not counted in your score when you play your last bone. Similarly, partners add their bone totals when play is blocked.
Game is normally 150 or 200 points. If more than one player or team passes this total in the same hand, then the team or player with the highest point total wins.